Sanskrit Manuscripts : Bandhasvāmitvavṛtti

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>A fairly old manuscript, dated 1474 CE, of an anonymous Sanskrit commentary on the <i>Bandhasvāmitva</i>, which is the third work in the set of five or six Karmagranthas. The latter text belongs to the set of the ‘old’ Karmagranthas, which are less commonly found in India and a fortiori elsewhere. Thus, this is not the classical and famous work by Devendrasūri. The work contained in this manuscript, consisting of Prakrit verses along with an anonymous Sanskrit commentary, is also found in another manuscript kept in the UK, namely Bodleian No. 1358 (Ms. Sansk. d. 271), fol. 42v-55v, which has an anonymous Sanskrit commentary identical to the Cambridge manuscript but is not dated (cf. A.B. Keith, <i>Catalogue of Prākrit Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library</i> with a Preface by E.W.B. Nicholson, Oxford, 1911, p. 213). On the other hand, BL Or. 2137 Manuscript B, Text 7 (BL Catalogue entry No. 408) has only the Prakrit verses without commentary. The <i>Bandhasvāmitva</i> has been published with the commentary composed by Haribhadra in V.S. 1172 (1115 CE) (Bhavnagar, V.S., Jaina Ātmānanda Sabhā 52, 1972). The <i>Karmastava</i> referred to on <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(15);return false;'>7v</a>, l. 18, refers to the second work in the set of Karmagranthas and thus precedes the <i>Bandhasvāmitva</i>.</p>